LIFE SCIENCES · LAB SPACE AND VENTURE SUPPORT
Altitude Lab will move its accelerator and member startups into Portal at Woodbine Labs, a planned 30,000-square-foot Salt Lake City life-sciences hub. The facility is scheduled to open in February 2027. The partnership combines lab and office space with accelerator programming, venture-development support and connections to investors and industry partners. The announcement said more than 40 Altitude Lab companies have raised a combined $205 million.
CAPITAL · OPPORTUNITY ZONES
The U.S. Treasury approved all 37 census tracts recommended by Gov. Spencer Cox, without changes. Utah selected the tracts from 147 eligible areas after reviewing economic and demographic indicators and gathering input from local leaders and businesses. The designation creates a framework for investors and communities to explore qualifying projects. It does not itself award money or guarantee that investment will follow.
CAPITAL · PRIVATE EQUITY BUYOUT
Francisco Partners completed its all-cash acquisition of Weave on October 26. The Lehi-based healthcare patient-engagement and payments software company was acquired in a transaction valued at approximately $650 million.
CAPITAL · SMALL BUSINESS
Utah has moved into the third and final funding tranche of its Small Business Credit Initiative, making $24.2 million available through participating lenders. The first two tranches deployed $44.8 million to Utah small businesses. The program offers loan participation to lower blended borrowing costs and capital-access support that can reduce lender risk.
LIFE SCIENCES · CLINICAL VALIDATION
North Salt Lake medical-device company RefloDx closed a $2 million seed round to continue developing and clinically validating SondeFlux, a wearable ultrasound device designed to detect reflux reaching the upper esophagus. The planned work includes a multi-center study, with blinded validation data expected in 2027. SondeFlux is investigational, has not been cleared by the FDA and is not commercially available. Nucleus Fund participated in the financing.
CAPITAL · GROWTH
Salt Lake City-based Savory Fund closed its third fund at $201.5 million, above its $200 million target. The fund is already 35% deployed across South Block, Bonrue Bakery, Hawkers Asian Street Food and Zao Asian Grill, and Savory expects the portfolio to reach eight or nine brands.
ADVANCED MATERIALS · COMMERCIALIZATION
Urban Armor Gear’s Phone Recovery Pouch, featuring technology from South Jordan-based DRYOUT, was named to TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026. The pouch uses DRYOUT’s reusable material to draw moisture away from exposed electronics and trap it inside an absorbent core.
DEFENSE · VENTURE CAPITAL
Lindon-based Fortem Technologies completed a $50 million Series B led by Lockheed Martin, with participation from Unusual Machines and other strategic and institutional investors. The completed round includes the $25 million initial investment Lockheed announced earlier this year.
ENERGY · CAPITAL
Salt Lake City-based Maxwell Power announced an additional $800 million investment commitment from Fairtide Partners to purchase solar and battery-storage projects developed through Maxwell’s platform. Following commitments of $250 million in 2024 and $750 million in June 2026, Fairtide’s total commitment to Maxwell-developed projects is now $1.8 billion.
GEOTHERMAL · RESEARCH COMMERCIALIZATION
University of Utah teams were selected for award negotiations on two Department of Energy geothermal projects worth up to approximately $35 million. One could receive up to $25 million for an enhanced-geothermal field demonstration in Nevada, while the other could receive up to $9.7 million for drilling and subsurface work at Utah’s Cove Fort geothermal field.
WOMEN’S HEALTH · COMMERCIALIZATION
Freyya, a women’s health medical-device startup operating in Salt Lake City, closed an oversubscribed pre-seed financing round led by Alamo Angels. The company says it has completed its product build and clinical testing, including the ERICA clinical study conducted at the University of Utah, and engaged a contract manufacturer for commercial-scale production.
PHYSICAL AI · AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
Mendon-based Autonomous Solutions Inc. received a $225 million investment from SoftBank Group. The companies also formed a separately capitalized joint venture to develop and commercialize autonomous construction equipment for large infrastructure projects; the amount invested in the joint venture was not disclosed.
